Introduction korea alaba

Korea: The Lingering Shadow of the Cold War

Map of Korea• North- Communist

Capital: Pyongyang

• South- Capitalist

Capital: Seoul

Korea• “Land of the morning calm”• ÷ at the end of WWII

• Bloody war 1950-1953• Cultural bridge between China and

Japan• “Adopt extreme isolationism

“Hermit Kingdom” (19th century)

Leaders• Kim II Sung - world’s longest lasting national ruler

- developed a self-reliance ideology called juche

• Kim Chong II- son & successor of Kim II Sung

• Park Chung-hee- military dictatorship

• Kim Young Sam- an opponent of the previous military regimes; elected as president; anti-corruption

Chaebol- conglomerate of businesses, usually owned

by a single family/family dynasty

led to modern Hermit Kingdom

South Korea North Korea

• Capitalist

• Republic of Korea

• Exceed economically and diplomatically; had more agriculture and light industry than the heavy industrial north

• Surpassed in per capita income in the mid-70s

• Technological ladder from textiles through heavy industry to consumer electronics and automobiles (tigers)

• Supported by the United Nations

• Communist

• Democratic People's Republic of KoreaAfter the war extreme Stalinist command socialist model

• Produced nuclear weapons; stressed heavily industrialization

• Grew more rapidly than SK for a decade after 1953

• North has stagnated economically

• Supported by China and Russia

Historical and Cultural Background to 1953

1. Premodern Korea

2. The Opening Up of Korea and the Japanese Occupation

3. The Division of Korea and the Korean War

Premodern Korea

• Myths declare they are descended from

Tangun/Dangun Wanggeom - son of a bear and a god- 2333 BC- founder of the first Korean kingdom - 668 AD- Silla Kingdom- 936 AD- Koryo (Buddhist monks)- 1392 AD- Choson/Joseon Kingdom

The Opening Up of Korea and the Japanese Occupation

• 1876- post-Meiji Japan obtained commercial treaty• 1880- Korea signed trade treaties• 1894- Anti-foreign uprising Chinese- Japan• 1905- Russia-Japan fought over Korea• 1910- Japan annexed Korea

- Economic growth accelerated & modernizing reforms were carried out to integrate Korea in the Japanese empire in a subordinate position

• 1919- Koreans revolted a nonviolent independence movement

• 1915-1938- Per capita rice consumption in Korea declined by nearly 50%

Reforms

1. Abolition of slavery

2. The institution of a civil code

3. Introduction of a modern financial system

4. Expansion of the school system

5. Building of infrastructure in transportation and hydroelectric power

6. The initial development of the textile industry

The Opening Up of Korea and the Japanese Occupation

• 1919- Provisional Government was established

Syngman Rhee- president

- removed in 1925• 1948- U.S. installed Syngman Rhee as the

1st president of Republic of Korea (S.K.)

• 1929- King II Sung joined the Korean Communist Party

• 1932- King II Sung joined a group of anti-Japanese guerrillas operating in Manchuko

• August 1945- Japanese occupation of Korea ended WWII

The Division of Korea and the Korean War

• 1943- Cairo Conference between U.S., Great Britain and China

• August 1948- ROK established- Syngman Rhee (UN)• September 1948- DPRK established – Kim II Sung• Each leader demanded the overthrow of the other to

unify Korea under his own leadership• The Korean War began on June 25, 1950• The end of the war came with the signing of an armistice

on July 27, 1953• 38th Parallel North (July 1953)

End